By fiat, and claiming authority under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, the Government of India issued an order that imposed 37 Indian central government laws to Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir

Topics: changing the laws in force in occupied territory, international humanitarian law violation, no consent of governed, violation of political rights, colonial domination

By fiat, the Government of India overhauled the apparatuses of civil administration in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir, including by creating new “District Development Councils.”   This is a major violation of international humanitarian law, human rights, indigenous rights, treaty obligations and constitutional guarantees.

Topics: changing the laws in force in occupied territory, international humanitarian law violation, no consent of governed, violation of political rights, colonial domination, disempowerment, marginalization, indigenous rights

By fiat, the Government of India implemented a number of substantial changes to applicable law in Indian-Administered Jammu and Kashmir.  The Government of India imposed 11 Indian “central” laws to the territory.  The Government of India also amended 10 previously existing laws applicable to the territory.  Among the most substantial changes was the imposition of a previously politically untenable property tax. This is a major violation of international humanitarian law, human rights, indigenous rights, treaty obligations and constitutional guarantees.

Topics: changing the laws in force in occupied territory, international humanitarian law violation, no consent of governed, violation of economic rights, violation of cultural rights, violation of social rights, colonial domination, dispossession, disempowerment, marginalization, right to education, indigenous rights

By fiat, the Government of India enacted this Act making Hindi an “official” language of the region.  While Hindi is widely spoken in Northern India and promoted by Hindu supremacists and the BJP, there is no indigenous Hindi-speaking community in the region. At the same time, languages spoken by indigenous people of the region, like Gojri, Pahari and Punjabi, were excluded.  Those excluded languages had previously a recognized official status under law.

Topics: changing the laws in force in occupied territory, international humanitarian law violation, no consent of governed, violation of economic rights, violation of cultural rights, violation of social rights, demographic change, settler colonialism, forced demographic change, colonial domination, disempowerment, marginalization, indigenous rights

A letter from Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi to the Council president on recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir.